


Pretty Little Liars 7x20 - An Alternative Ending

by charlottedrake



Category: PLL - Fandom, Pretty Little Liars
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-22 23:44:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11390892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlottedrake/pseuds/charlottedrake
Summary: It's been over a year since it happened. Since she died. After finding out who killed her, Melissa Hastings thought that she would be able to finally move on with her life.But she can't. Not until she's finds the closure she needs to numb the pain. It's the only way that she'll be able to move on.-An Alternative Ending to the series finale for the TV show, Pretty Little Liars.





	1. Part 1

It had been over a year since it happened. Since she lost her. Any other person would've already gone on with life, acting as if everything was back to normal.

Alison Dilaurentis sure did. Sure, she may have cried over her death for a few days, maybe a few weeks even. But within the blink of an eye, it's as if she had even forgotten who Charlotte was, she even went on to start a relationship with Charlotte’s ‘boyfriend’, Archer.

But she, no not Alison, she couldn't move on. Despite the fact that so much time had gone by, she could still smell her scent, she could still hear her laugh. 

Her laugh. Now that was definitely a breathtaking view. The way her eyes squinted when she would smile. It made her heart leap every time.

She observed the liars with their significant others from the bushes.

Must be nice. She thought to herself as she glared at them from afar. Must be really fucking nice to be able to go on with life, surrounded by the people you love and love you back.

Well what about me? Why does everyone that I love get taken away by them? Why can't they just let me be happy for once!

She had thought that after finding out who killed Charlotte, that she would have some closure. And she did find it. Only for a few weeks though. 

She tried to occupy herself with her flourishing business back in England, but she kept seeing her face everywhere. She couldn't continue living like this.

And then she remembered the baby. The baby, that she had impregnated Alison with, Charlotte's sperm that she had saved before she transitioned.

She had to have that baby. She had to have that piece of Charlotte. Only then would she be able to move on.

The first time she met Charlotte, or Cece, as she had first introduced herself as, dates back to her Senior Prom.

Night of the Opera. She asked Ian to be her date to the prom. The man who she thought would be the love of her life. She did love him a lot, but he was also taken away from her, because of them.

Jason Dilaurentis had brought her as his date. And that's where their story had begun:

“You seem lonely?” The blonde girl had approached her smoothly. “Seems like our dates dumped us for each other.” Charlotte gestures towards Ian and Jason who were occupied talking to Garret, who was holding a camera. Probably for their stupid club thing.

She looks up at the blonde from her seat and gives her a puzzled look, “Do I know you?” She had asked rather tiredly.

The blonde pulls out a seat across from her and sits down. “You probably don't.” She tells her as she locks eyes with the brunette. “But, I do know you Melissa Hastings.”

Melissa is surprised that a total stranger would know her name, but then she remembered that she's with Jason, he probably told her to come hang out with her while he hung out with Ian.

“So you know who I am.” Melissa says. “But I don't know you. Do you even go to this school?”

The blonde looks around the room and brings her index finger to her lips, “Sh, don't tell them, if not they'll take me off the nominee list for prom queen.”

“How are you supposed to win if you don't even go to this school?” Melissa questioned her.

The blonde tilted her head and gave her one of the most charming smiles that she had ever seen, “Because I’m Cece Drake.” She told her. “If I want something, I will stop at nothing to get it. That's something that I've promised myself.”

Melissa couldn't help but be intrigued. She leaned forward and rested her head on her right hand, “Well, how do you plan on doing that then, Cece Drake?”

Before Cece could answer, Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield has started playing. She gets up and offers Melissa her hand. “How about I tell you that, while you dance with me?” She suggests.

Melissa looked down at her hand and hesitated for a moment. 

“Come on Hastings,” Cece said as she smiled charmingly at her. “I don't bite.”

Melissa gave in. What the hell, it's not like her date was paying much attention to her anyway.

Cece wrapped her arms around her shoulders, and instinctively, Melissa did the same. She cleared her throat, “ So, are you going to tell me how you plan on winning?” She asked.

Cece nodded and leans in to her left ear. Melissa could feel herself getting nervous as she felt her breathe on her face, “It's a secret.” Cece whispered. 

She giggled as she pulled back. Melissa felt herself roll her eyes, “so much for that.” She muttered.

“Wow, little Miss Perfect has an attitude?” Cece teased her. “Who would've known.”

Melissa let out a humorless laugh, “Believe me, it isn't easy trying to be this perfect.”

“But you pull it off so well.” Cece replied. “As a matter of fact, someone as perfect as you, shouldn't be here, hanging out with someone as messed up as me.”

They continue to sway on the dance floor, not really paying attention to anyone around them. “You don't look messed up.” Melissa said as she wondered what she could possibly mean by ‘messed up’.

Cece let out a small laugh, “Well, let's just say the reason I'm attending yours and Jason's prom, is because I will have never or ever will be able to have one of my own.”

Melissa gives the blonde a look of confusion, “What do you mean by that?” 

Cece removes her hands from Melissa’s shoulders, “The song is over.” She said. “I should probably head back to Jason.”

She begins to head towards her date, before she turns back around to look at Melissa with a flirtatious smile, “Should I leave one of my heels behind in order for you to find me again?” 

Melissa couldn't help but smile, this strange girl had really broughten out a smile from her tonight, something that Ian had failed to do. “I don't need any heels,” Melissa told her. “If we're meant to meet each other again, then we will.”

Cece winked at her before turning back, and continued to walk towards Jason. That only made Melissa's smile widen, she couldn't help it. 

Something about this strange girl had really caught her attention.

•••  
Melissa loved Spencer. She did, she just has never been fully capable of forgiving her for betraying her by kissing not one, but two of her boyfriends. 

Just like she's never been able to forgive Alison Dilaurentis for messing around with her boyfriend and making a fool out of her.

Sure, she had eventually moved on from those incidents after meeting Charlotte again a few years later.

She had only seen Charlotte two other times after her Prom, at Cape May and that night when Alison had first disappeared.

When she saw her at Cape May with Alison trailing her like a lost puppy, she decided that it was best to stay away. She figured that she was probably helping Alison steal Ian from her. 

Then, on the night Alison disappeared. She was lurking around in the stormy night, looking for her sister. And somehow she had ended up in the Dilaurentis property. 

There, she had seen something that left her wondering what was happening, for almost two years.

She watched as Cece had hugged Mrs. Dilaurentis tightly and as she was pushed inside Wilden’s car.

She was shaking the whole time and she was crying. For some reason, the scene that she had witnessed, broke her heart, despite the fact that she had no idea what was going on. 

All Melissa knew, was that she had this sudden urge to run up to Wilden’s car and hold her. She wanted to comfort her.

She didn't look like the Cece Drake who had been subtlety flirting with her at her Senior Prom, she looked so vulnerable and so frightened.

•••

Melissa sneaked into what used to be the Lost Woods Resort, and looked for the baby's room. She had to see her. She had to see Charlotte's baby. 

She found the baby's room, it was obvious, it had a little ribbon hanging from the door. Melissa opened the door as quietly as she could and snuck in.

To her surprise though, there were two babies and not one. She could hear the babies babbling to one another. They were awake.

She turned on the little lamp that was next to their cribs. She looked at the baby on the left. That one was definitely Emily's baby, she had her brown eyes and nose. She caressed the baby's cheek gently.

She then turned around and looked at the baby on the left, she could feel the tears threatening to fall as she looked at her.

Now this one, was definitely Charlotte's baby. She may have Emily's nose, but the blue eyes were definitely Charlotte's, and she was blonde. 

She gently picks up the baby from her crib. Melissa smiles through the tears as she holds the baby. “You look just like your mom.” She whispers to her.

The baby girl wraps her tiny hand around Melissa’s finger and that's when Melissa completely falls in love with her. She can't help but remember one of her many loving memories with Charlotte.

•••

“Why did you do that Charlotte?” Melissa questioned her as she sits down in her room at Welby. 

“Did you use the fake I.D. I gave you to sign in?” Charlotte asks her instead of answering her question. “Alison can't know you're here.”

Melissa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, “Yes, I did.” She told her. “Now tell me why you told Wren, what I did to that girl!”

Charlotte sighs and grabs her hand, to which Melissa quickly snatches away. She really was angry.

“You had stopped calling me.” Charlotte says breathlessly. “And then when Alison told me that Spencer told her, that you and Wren had gotten back together… I-I lost it.” She got up from her bed and knelt down next to Melissa. “I couldn't stand the idea of someone else being with you.”

Melissa had tried to resist, but Charlotte had been looking at her with puppy eyes, and she couldn't help but fall into her ex girlfriend’s arms, “get up.” She told her as she helped her stand up.

“I'm really sorry Melissa.” She said.

Melissa brought her hand up to her cheek and caressed her. She was so beautiful, even in this state. “I hate that I can't stay mad at you.”

“So, you're not mad anymore.” She asked.

Melissa rolled her eyes and continued to stare dreamily at her ex girlfriend. “I'm not.” She admits. “I just wish you could've made up some random lie in order to get my attention.”

“No, I mean are you no longer mad at me for deciding to end the game and almost blowing myself up?”

Melissa removed her hand from Charlotte's cheek, “Oh yeah, now I remember why we broke up.” She said as she turned around to face the door. “How could you dare even think of leaving me like that! Do you know what I felt like when my parents called me to tell me that my sister's tormentor had been caught? I was terrified that you would've gone to prison for years!”

Charlotte walks up to Melissa and wraps her arms around her waist, giving her a back hug. “I'm sorry for not trusting you and I'm sorry for even thinking about leaving you.”

“Yeah, you should have trusted me.” Melissa said. “I knew all along that you were the one torturing my sister and her friends, not that those bitches didn't deserve it, and I kept your secret safe. I even helped you at times, because I love you.”

Charlotte squeezed her a bit tighter, “I love you too.” Melissa turned around to face Charlotte. “And I promise to never leave you again.” She gently cupped her face and kissed her. 

Kissing her at that moment still made her heart beat as fast as it did when they did for the first time. She knew her relationship with Charlotte was wrong, but it felt so right. 

“When are you getting out of this place.” Melissa whispered. “I want to be with you. Forever.”

Charlotte shrugged, “I'm working on it.” She tells her. “But as soon as I'm out, I want us to be together again. And I want to have a baby. Only that unlike me, this baby won't get abandoned. It will get all of my love. All of our love.”

Melissa chuckled, “How am I supposed to give you a baby?” She asked. “I don't think that's biologically possible yet.”

Charlotte brushed Melissa's hairs to the side of her face, “Like I said love, when I want something, I'll get it.”

There Charlotte had discussed how before she transitioned at 17, that she had stored some of her sperm in a clinic back in Rosewood. 

•••

Alison Dilaurentis and Emily Fields had woken up then next morning in each other's arms. 

“Good morning beautiful,” Alison whispered to her fiancé as she played with her brown hair.

“Is it morning already?” Emily groaned as she hugged Alison tighter. “I don't want to leave your embrace just yet.”

Alison kissed her chin, before reaching her lips and giving her a proper good morning kiss. “I know,” she sighed. “But we should probably check on Grace and Lily, it's a miracle that they didn't cry all night.”

Emily sat up on their bed and reached for her robe, “You're right, I should probably prepare their bottles for them, do you mind bringing them to the kitchen?”

•••

Alison quietly opened the door, that led to their babies room, which was right next door to theirs. To her surprise though, she found Grace sitting on the floor holding onto a white Lily flower.

Grace was giggling and babbling as she played with the flower. “How did you get out of your crib?” Alison asked as she let out an uncomfortable laugh. 

She then turns around and looks at the two empty cribs. Yes, two empty cribs. If Grace was down there then where was Lily?

She looks into Lily's crib and lets out a horrified scream when she realizes that her daughter is missing. She was taken. She grabs the black cardboard that was left behind on her daughter's crib. 

It was signed A.D.

“Ali?” Aria Montgomery walked into the baby room, which was right across hers and Ezra's room. “What's wrong?”

Alison couldn't get the words out, all she kept thinking about what her missing daughter. She couldn't speak, she kept getting choked up in her own tears.

“What happened?” Emily runs in, she had heard her girlfriend scream from the kitchen, and instantly dropped the bottle on the sink, just to run towards Alison.

“E-Emily..” Alison chokes up as she shows her the cardboard that had A.D.’s signature on it. “It has Lily. It has our daughter.” And with that, Alison completely broke down.

Aria and Emily were both left in shock, “Em..” Aria turned to look at her friend, who was already shaking. It was evident, that the brunette was trying to keep herself together, for Alison. “Oh my god, Spencer! Hanna!” Aria called out to the other girls as she went in and picked Grace up from the floor, who had also started crying.

•••

“We need to call the cops.” Hanna suggested once all 8 of them were together in the main room.

“No!” Alison protested, her face was puffy due to all the crying she had just done. “We don't know what it will do to Lily if we do!”

“Then what are we supposed to do?!” Hanna asked as she looked over to Spencer. “Spence?”

But Spencer wasn't really paying attention, she was focused on her other friend, Emily who had just been sitting there frozen. She hadn't moved. “Em, are you okay?”

Emily looks up at Spencer. “How am I supposed to be?” She choked out. “Our daughter is missing and we can't do anything about it!”

“I said that I would protect them.” Alison whispered. “I promised myself that I wouldn't allow them to have a bad life, like Charlotte.”

“We'll find her.” Aria says as she looks at both Alison and Emily.

Alison looks back at her, “How?” She asked hopelessly.

“Because it wants something.” Spencer replies. “Why else would it come back after being gone for a whole year?”

“Then are we just supposed to wait for it to contact us?” Emily snaps. “We can't just do nothing!”

“We won't.” Caleb speaks up. “In the meantime, I could connect all of your phones to my laptop, and try to track the location that message comes from.”

“Yeah, and isn't there security cameras in this place that Mary Drake installed?” Toby asked. “Spencer and I could go and check if we can catch at least who it is.”

Emily sighs as she lets a few tears fall. “Please, hurry.” She breathed out. She noticed that her girlfriend had started crying again and quickly went to her side to hug her.

•••

Spencer and Toby walked into the lobby and had begun looking through the camera footage from last night.

“How did we not hear it?” Spencer asks as Toby scrolls through the videos. “We were awake, and literally two doors away, how did we not hear someone breaking into the baby room!”

“Don't punish yourself for something that we had no control over.” Toby tells her. “This person has been sneaking around you and your friends for a whole year.”

“Wait, stop right there!” Spencer says. The cameras were angled from the top, so you could only see a hooded figure quietly lurking through the hallways, until it found the twin’s room.

“Do we have cameras inside the rooms?” Spencer asks.

Toby shakes his head, “Doesn't seem like it.”

“Well, keep playing it until it comes out.” Toby left to footage rolling. It wasn't until an hour later that the hooded figure came out of the room, holding Lily and a bag. Only that it didn't seem like it was mistreating Lily. 

It kept caressing the baby's cheek as it headed towards the door.

Toby and Spencer look at each other, as if they've both been thinking the same thing. 

What if that was the father?

•••

Melissa was hiding out in an apartment in Rosewood. She had to leave soon, but first she had to create fake papers in order for her to be able to take Lily, or as she plans to rename her, Charlotte Hastings-Drake, overseas.

She looks at the baby who was asleep on the bed and smiles. “I remember your Mommy and I used to fight over which one of our last names we would keep after getting married.” Melissa whispered. She could feel the tears threatening to fall.

She grabs a picture of Charlotte from her bag and shows the baby to it. “Look at your daughter.” She said quietly. “I'll make sure that she gets all the love that was stolen from you. I'll love her as much as you would've loved her. And I'll love her as much as I love you.” 

Melissa brings Charlotte's picture to her chest and cried silently, as she remembered how she had found Charlotte dead.

•••

They were supposed to meet up at the Bell Tower, it was Charlotte's first night out, and she wanted to start the game again.

Of course, Melissa was annoyed by this, because she just wanted to take Charlotte with her to England, and live with her. 

Melissa had also asked her to meet somewhere, where no one would see her, because she was still supposed to be overseas. So she was wearing a huge red coat, to prevent anyone from recognizing her.

Despite Melissa being annoyed at the fact that Charlotte wanted to start the game again, she still was excited to see her girlfriend for the first time in person, after months of just phone calls.

However, all that excitement that Melissa was feeling, vanished when she found a blonde girl lying on the ground, she was on her stomach.

Melissa felt her heart stop as she slowly approached the girl. ‘Please don't be her, please don't be her.” She silently begged as she knelt down and removed the hair from the woman's face.

Melissa felt herself let out an ugly cry. “Charlotte..” she whispered as she tried to shake her awake. She had hoped that she had just fallen and was unconscious.

But as she picked up her head and placed it on her lap, she saw that the back of her neck was bleeding. She was murdered.

Melissa had begun to pound her fists on the ground as the tears streamed down her face.

“Charlotte, no!” She cried out in pain. “No, you can't leave me you bitch! Charlotte!” She knew that she was dead, but she kept shaking her, hoping that she would magically wake up. 

“Charlotte!” She continued to sob. “No! You can't leave me! You can't leave me too! She brought her face down, next to hers and just cried and cried. 

“Y-You promised you wouldn't leave me-” she whispered.

Suddenly she heard a familiar voice in the distance, “Is that Alison?” The female voice asked. It was Aria, one of Spencer's friends.

Melissa quietly stood up and followed the murmuring voices that were coming from the side of the church. It was Aria and that teacher that she had dated.

What were they doing here? 

“It's getting late,” Ezra said. “You should probably get back.”

Melissa felt herself clench her fists tightly as she had realized that the liars may had, had something to do with Charlotte's death.

She quickly turned around and walked away, 

‘Charlotte was right.’ Melissa thought to herself as she went inside her car. “Those bitches do ruin everything.” She started the car and silently drove off.

‘They'll get what's coming to them.’ Melissa may not be as good with technology as Charlotte, but she'll figure it out. 

Those bitches are going to be getting what they deserve.

•••  
Spencer kept staring at Grace as she continued to play with a very familiar Lily.

“Where did she get that from?” Spencer asked. It was almost 11 P.M. and they still had no sign from A.D.

Everyone was already asleep except for Alison and Spencer. Alison brushed Emily's hair gently as she shrugged.

“A.D. must've given it to her before she took Lily.” She replied. “Why do you ask?”

“They look like the same flowers that grow at the Horse Stables.” Spencer said. “I could've sworn that I saw them there two days ago, when I went horseback riding with Melissa…”

Spencer stayed quiet for a moment and Alison gives her a strange look, “What?” She questioned her.

Melissa. That's right, Melissa was supposed to call her today before she headed out back to England. That's strange, why didn't she call her?

“I-I need to make a call.” Spencer got up from the couch and headed towards the hallway. She marked her sister’s number and brought the phone to her ear.

The phone rang three times before Melissa answered, “Hello?”

“Melissa. Hey.” Spencer greets her older sister. “Have you left for England yet?”

“Oh yeah. Uh I'm actually at the airport right now. So I don't really have much time to talk.” 

“Oh.” Spencer breathed. “Well it does seem quite silent at the airport today.” She let out a laugh. “Usually there's always people talking all over you.”

Spencer heard a baby start crying in the background. “What was that?” She asked. “Was that a baby?”

“Oh, yeah.” She responds. “There's this lady sitting next to me here on the plane and her baby just woke up. Seems like you jinxed it.”

“I thought you said you were at the airport.” Spencer points out, quietly.

“Well duh,” her sister laughs. “If I'm on a plane, then I obviously have to be at the airport.”

“Oh. Right.” Spencer said. The baby continued to cry. 

“Anyways Spencer I have to go.” Melissa suddenly said. “Wish me a safe trip. Bye.” 

Spencer looked at the time. 

11:33 P.M. Melissa told her two days ago that her flight left around noon. 

She walked back to the couch in front of where Alison and Emily were sitting on. Everyone was pretty much still sleeping.

Only this time, Aria and Hanna were awake too.

“Spencer?” Aria calls out. “Why do you look like you've just seen a ghost.”

She sat down. “Ali, do you know if Charlotte knew my sister?” She asked.

Alison shakes her head. “Not that I know of.” They stay quiet for a moment and Spencer begins to think that she's probably just overthinking.

“But now that you mention it.” Alison continued. “The nurses at Welby did say that a brunette friend of Charlotte's had visited her a couple of times. A friend from UPenn I think.”

Spencer felt herself go numb. “Melissa also attended UPenn.” She whispered.

Hanna scowls, not understanding what Spencer was implying. “What are you trying to say, Spence?”

Spencer shakes her head, “That's the thing.” Spencer whispers. “I don't want to say it.”

“Spencer..” Alison looks at her, with a serious look on her face. “Are you saying that you think… your sister is behind all of this?”

“I don't want to say that!” Spencer snapped. “And maybe I'm overthinking things, but when Melissa and I were at the horse stables, she kept looking at those damn Lilies that grow there! And when I just called her, she completely lied to my face about where she was at! And I also think I heard a baby cry in the background.”

“Are you kidding me Spencer?!” Alison raises her voice at her cousin. “Why didn't you say this sooner!?”

Emily had slowly started to wake up, “What's with all the yelling?” She mumbled. “What's going on?”

“Melissa Hastings is A.D. and she has our daughter, that's what's going on!” Alison snaps. “We have to go after her!”

“What?!” Emily quickly got on her feet. 

“Wait, we're not even completely sure if Melissa is!” Spencer replies.

“Spencer how much more proof do you want?” Hanna asks. “You were with her when she got the stupid flower, she lied about where she was, and you said that you heard a baby crying in the background when you called her! She's freaking A.D!”

Spencer shakes her head. “We were just starting to get along.” She whispered as a tear strolled down her face. “She said she cared for me. It can't be her.”

“Spencer,” Alison's voice softens towards her cousin as she remembers how she felt when she found out about Cece’s betrayal. “Charlotte also told me that she loved me. But she was planning on starting the game again.”

“Hey guys.” Toby called out as he walked inside the room with a laptop. “What's going on?”

When he noticed that Spencer was crying, he immediately handed the laptop to Emily and went to her side, and started to gently rub her arm. “Hey, what's wrong?”

“We think we know who A.D. is.” Aria tells him. 

“Well, I know who A.D. is.” Toby then confesses. “Press play on that video Emily.”

Emily pressed play as all of the liars and Toby gathered around next to her. “It's just us having Dinner.” Emily says. “From yesterday.”

Toby nods, “Spencer I'm sorry.” He apologizes quickly as she gives him a puzzled look, “Zoom into the bushes behind Hanna.”

“Oh my god.” Emily whispers. 

Spencer feels her heart drop as she sees her older sister spying on the from the bushes, wearing a black hoodie. 

“It really is Melissa.” Hanna says.

Spencer walks towards the corner and covers her face, as she let the tears fall.

Aria then walks towards her and puts her arm around her. 

“Spence…” Alison went up to comfort her as well.

Spencer didn't want to believe it. No, she won't believe it. There has to be some explanation. Melissa wouldn't hurt her. She wouldn't.

“Track her location.” She whispered. “From Caleb’s laptop, it should've picked up the call I just had with her. I need to see her.

“Spencer,” Toby tries to protest. “I don't think this is a good idea.”

“Yeah, Toby's right Spencer.” Aria chimes in. “We should hand over this information towards the police.”

“I am not turning in my own sister!” Spencer raises her voice. “There has to be some explanation, she wouldn't do this to me. I want to see her, Toby track my sister's location before I completely lose it.”

Toby hesitates, “Spence-”

“Just do it!” She screams. She lets herself fall to the floor as she wraps her arms around her knees. “Please.”

He gave in, “Fine,” he says. “But if she is in Rosewood, then you're not going alone.”

Spencer knew that there was no point in arguing with Toby on this. “Alright,” she reluctantly agrees, “But not all us or she could be too intimidated to tell me the truth.”

“Too intimidated?” Emily scoffs, “She’s A.D., shouldn’t it be us who are intimidated?”  
“If she is the it who has tortured us after Charlotte’s death, then I think we all have the right to be there too.” Hanna adds.

Alison crosses her arms, “Hanna’s right,” she intervenes, “Plus, Charlotte was my sister- or cousin, I deserve to know who she was to her.”

“Not to mention that she may have our daughter!” Emily really was going insane. “Toby, have you been able to track her location yet?”

He clears his throat, “Yeah, someone better go and wake up Caleb, because I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.”

•••

“I’ve got the papers that you asked me to.” a British voice spoke through Melissa’s cellphone. “I really wish I could’ve done more for you and Charlotte.”

“Thank you Wren.” Melissa sighs. Wren had been the only other person to know about her romance with Charlotte, and he didn’t judge. As a matter of fact, after she had talked things out with him after what Charlotte had told him about her, he said that he understood her. 

He understood her, because his mom was in love with his dad, despite his many problems. Only difference, was that Charlotte was actually kind to him during those few times that they had met, unlike his father who was abusive and neglected him.

“It’s the least I could do for you.” he responds. “After the way I abandoned you, whenever Charlotte first called me. I understand that what you did was to protect Spencer, just like how I understand that what you’re doing now, is to help Charlotte live on.”

Melissa looks over at baby Charlotte, “I can’t wait until you see her.” she says softly. “You wouldn’t believe how much she looks like her.”

“Rest assured Melissa, I will help you find your closure.” he tells her. “If you want me to, I can go kidnap her right now, and bring her to you. Let you dispose of her, the way she did to Charlotte.”

Melissa shakes her head, even though he can’t see her. “You know that I would want nothing more than that.” she breathes out. “But I can’t risk losing baby Charlotte, over that useless doll.”

“I understand.” he says. “I’ll be there to pick you up tomorrow. And we’ll move to France, and raise Baby Charlotte the way her mother would’ve wanted to. I’ll see you soon.”

•••


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melissa is caught. Will she ever be able to move on from Charlotte's death?
> 
> (Sorry for the grammar errors).

An hour and a half had passed already, as Melissa was packing her clothes away rapidly. The liars were onto her, she had no time to lose.

Wren was supposed to be waiting outside already, to take her over to his apartment, until their flight would leave in a few hours.

She looked at the sleeping baby and smiled. “I’m going to need to buy you new clothes soon.” she whispers. Melissa had never really been the ‘girly’ type while growing up, god how she hated those dresses that her mother would force her to wear. She actually swore to herself that she would never force her child to wear uncomfortable clothing, like she was forced to. 

But she knows that Charlotte was obsessed with pretty dresses and pretty clothes, so the idea of seeing baby Charlotte in a big puffy dress, suddenly didn’t seem like a bad idea. Maybe that’s what she’ll do once they arrived at their new destination. Charlotte would’ve loved that.

Melissa smiles to herself as she recalls the moment she had shared her first kiss with the blonde woman. It was after Mona was revealed as A, and when Cece Drake had come back to town.

She remembers her younger sister approaching her, asking her if she had ever heard of or even met a Cece Drake. She had then remembered the last time she had seen her, being pushed into Detective Wilden’s car on the night that Alison had disappeared. She had told her younger sister that she had heard the name before, but that all she knew was that she was Jason Dilaurentis’ ex girlfriend.

Once Spencer’s questions were taken care of, Melissa couldn’t help but become overpowered with curiosity about what had happened to the mysterious blonde woman. It came at the expense of being a Hastings, always wanting to know the answers to everything.

She remembered that Spencer had mentioned something about Cece Drake working at a small boutique store across the street from the Brew. It wasn’t that far and she had nothing better to do, plus the sun was already going down, so she had thought, why not pay the mysterious blonde a visit before she leaves? 

By the time Melissa had arrived at the boutique store, it was already dark. She had seen that the sign read ‘Open from 11 A.M. to 7 P.M.’ It was 7:30 (19:30). 

She was about to turn around to go back home, about to call the entire trip a waste of her time, until she heard a huge crash inside the shop. “Damn it!” she heard a voice from the inside curse.

She had become more eager to know what was going on, so she tried pushing the door, and to her surprise, it opened. “Sorry, we’re closed!” as she walked closer, she saw that the voice belonged none other than Cece Drake. She was on the floor with her back faced towards her, sweeping up shattered glass from the floor. 

“First day on the job and you’re already breaking things?” Melissa spoke, as she crossed her arms.

The blonde woman had stood up and turned around to face the brunette. She smiled, “Melissa Hastings.” The way she said her name sounded like music to Melissa’s ears. It’s almost as if she was delighted to see her. But why? It’s not like they knew each other too well. “To what do I owe your presence?”

“I heard you were back.”

“I am.”

“I heard you talked to my little sister.” 

Cece nodded, “I did.” she told her as she walked towards the trash can to dispose of the shattered glass pieces. “Funny, she hadn’t even introduced herself yet, and I could already tell that she was a Hastings. She looks just like you.”

Melissa felt herself tense, “How is it that you act like you know so much about me, but I don’t know anything about you?” she questioned her. 

Cece had shrugged as she walked towards her a bit, “Maybe you’re just too predictable.” she began and then she lowered her voice, “Or maybe, you and I have met before when we were kids?”

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, “We did?” she asked.

“Maybe we did. Maybe we didn’t.” the blonde woman then walked towards the front doors, to lock the doors from the outside. “Why don’t you figure it out?”

Melissa slowly walked towards Cece, trying to think of where she could have possibly met the blonde woman standing in front of her. But nothing came to mind, she’s met plenty of blonde little girls before, but none that she recalls being named ‘Cece Drake’. 

“No. I don’t think so?” she answered. “I mean, I don’t recall ever meeting a little girl named Cece Drake. Are you sure you got the right person?”

The blonde woman slowly backed Melissa into a wall. “You really don’t recognize me?” she asked her. Melissa slowly shook her head, “I don’t.”

Cece nodded, “Well.” she began as she leaned in a bit too close, causing Melissa’s heartbeat to speed up. “Maybe this will jog your memory.” And with that, she kissed her.

At first, Melissa didn’t know what the hell was going on. All she knew is that this mysterious, blonde woman was kissing her, and she wasn’t totally against her doing so. 

But then, the familiarity begins to kick in. Her scent. The feeling of her lips on hers. And the way her blue eyes would pierce through hers whenever they met. This feeling of familiarity, she has only felt when being with someone else. With her childhood friend, but how could that be possible?

Eventually, Cece Drake did pull away from the brunette. “Make sure you turn off the lights before you leave.” she told her as she gave her a small smile, before walking out of the boutique store.

But Melissa didn’t leave right away. She couldn’t move. It didn’t take her long for her to figure it out. 

Cece Drake was her childhood friend, Charlie. 

•••

They were able to track Spencer’s older sister’s location. She was in Rosewood still. The five girls followed the location that Caleb’s laptop had told them to go to. Emily and Alison had left their other daughter, Grace, under the supervision of of the three boys. Hopefully they knew how to change the diaper of an infant. 

“According to Caleb’s tracker,” Aria looks down at her phone. “The phone call came from this apartment building.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Emily asks as she glances up at the very tall building. “Let’s go get my daughter back and put that psycho in a jail cell.”

Spencer lingered behind. She wasn’t ready to accept whatever lied ahead. “Maybe you guys should let me talk to her first.” Spencer suggests. “If she is the one behind all of this, then let her give me the baby, we don’t have to get the police involved.”

“Like hell that’s happening Spencer!” Alison snaps. “She kidnapped my baby!”

“I am not going to send my sister to jail, Ali!” Spencer begins to raise her voice too. “Last year, it was you who sent us letters, asking us to help your sister redeem herself. If Melissa is the one who has your daughter, then it’ll be my turn to ask you to give my sister a chance to redeem herself too.” 

The four girls stayed quiet for a moment, not knowing what to say. Emily eventually speaks up, “Our daughter better be okay Spencer.” she tells her in a low voice. “If she’s not then I’m sorry, but you won’t stop us from calling the police on her.”

“Honestly you guys we’re just wasting time here.” Hanna interrupts them. “We can settle all of that later, right now let’s just focus on getting Lily back.”

“Hanna’s right.” Alison backs up her blonde friend. “We don’t have time to waste. Let’s go.” she then turns to look at her cousin, who she had grown so close to this past year. It pains her to see someone she cares so much about, feeling those exact same emotions as she did six years ago, when she found out that Cece was Charlotte, who was A. “We’ll talk about what we’ll do with your sister later.”

Spencer nods, “Okay.” she whispers.

The five liars had already begun making their way inside the building, when they hear a familiar voice call out to them. “Spencer? Hanna?” 

The girls stopped in their tracks and turned around to come face to face with none other than Wren Kingston. “What are you girls doing out here so late?”

“We’d like to ask you the same thing.” Spencer responds as she crosses her arms. “Are you here to see Melissa?” She eyes the luggages that the driver was stuffing into the trunk.

“Melissa? Oh, yeah. I’m escorting her back to England since her afternoon flight got canceled today.” He replies as he gives them an innocent smile.

“She told me around an hour ago that she was already at the airport. On the plane.” Spencer challenged him. “Why would you be here to pick her up, if she already left.”

The British man let out a small chuckle, “Oh yeah, did I mention that she had forgotten something important at her apartment?” he asks. “She had to come back for it, and it caused her to miss her flight again. What a shame honestly.” 

For a moment, the six of them just stand there. Not saying anything. 

“Are you here to wish your sister a safe trip?” Wren then breaks the silence. 

“Yup, that’s exactly what we’re doing.” Hanna barges into the conversation. “Do you mind telling us what room she’s in?”

Wren chuckles, “Since when were all you so close to Melissa?” he questions the liars as he raised his eyebrows up in suspicion.  
Hanna shrugs, “I guess you could say she became like an older sister to all of us during these past two days.” she replies as naturally as she could. “Right Aria?” she nudges her tiny friend standing beside her.

“Huh? Oh right.” Aria adds. “We just came to give her a goodbye hug and kiss, so we would really appreciate knowing her room number. So we could surprise her, you know.”

Wren laughs slightly. “Is that so?” he asks and Hanna nodded in response. “Well, as far as I know, she’s on the fifth floor in room 23-B.”

“Really? Great!” Hanna replies cheerfully. “Guess we should go say goodbye to our new friend, let’s go girls.”

“But you should know.” Wren stops them again. “I heard that the elevator was broken. You should probably take the stairs instead.”

Spencer nods and looks at the building. “Okay. We will.”

Wren made sure that they had all gone in before pulling out his cellphone and dialing Melissa’s number. “Change of plans.” he tells her as soon as she answered. “They’re currently on their way to you. Climb up to the roof instead, and then come back down through the Exit Ladder. I’ll be waiting for you across the street from the apartment.”

•••

“So…” Ezra begins as he carried the diaper towards the other two boys who were currently pinching their noses in order to block the horrible stench that was coming from baby Grace. “How exactly are we supposed to do this?”

Caleb shrugs, “Hey don’t ask us.” he replies. “You’ve been an adult longer than we have.”

“I think you’re supposed to place the fresh diaper underneath her, before you remove the dirty one.” Toby then tells him.

“Alright…” Ezra says as he does exactly what Toby told him to. “Now where are the Wipes?” 

Caleb grabs them from the couch and threw them towards Ezra. “Hey careful now,” he warns him as he caught them. “You almost hit Baby Grace.”

“God, I hope Lily is okay.” Toby then adds. “She’s not even five months old, and A has already decided to target her.”

“I hope the girls are okay too.” Caleb says. “One of us should’ve gone with them honestly.”  
“Alison and Emily wouldn’t let us.” Ezra joins the conversation. “They wanted us to stay here and protect their other child, in case A.D. decides to take her too.”

“You guys know that we can call it Melissa now.” Caleb states. “We’ve finally put a face to it.”

“Poor Spencer,” Toby then says quietly. “Can she ever be happy?”

“Maybe you should help her find that happiness after this whole thing is over?” Caleb tells him. “We can tell that you’re still in love with her. So, why don’t you do something about it?”

“Hey would you look at that!” Ezra exclaims. “I changed her diaper!”

•••

Melissa was already making her way out the door when she received that call from Wren. She pulls the hood of her black jacket over her head and begins to quietly, but rapidly make her way towards the stairs that led to the rood. 

“Come on guys, room 23-B is this way!” she heard Emily Fields say. It was now or ever. She continued to make her way towards the roof, hoping to go unnoticed by the five liars who were now currently knocking on her door. 

She was about to reach the door that lead to the roof, when suddenly Baby Charlotte started crying. 

“Oh my god, Lily!” Alison immediately recognizes her baby’s cry. 

“This way!” Emily exclaims as the girls begin to run towards the baby’s cries. 

Melissa panics and kicks open the door, she dashes out onto to the rooftop. She loses a lot of time as she tries to locate the ladder that Wren had mentioned. It was so dark that she could hardly see. 

She gives baby Charlotte her finger to suck on, in order to keep her quiet for at least a few more moments, while she escapes.

She finally locates the ladder and runs towards them. Is Wren serious? How did he expect her to climb down a six-storied building with a baby in her arms?!

It seems as if she wasted too much time overthinking the entire situation, because next thing she felt was someone pulling her hood off.

She quickly turns around and see’s none other than her younger sister standing there, showcasing a heartbroken expression. “How could you do this to me..” she hears the words faintly escape her mouth. 

The other four liars finally showed up on the rooftop seconds later, all wearing a shocked expression. Melissa didn’t understand what for if they were already on to her.

“Lily!” Alison calls out and begins to walk run towards the baby.

No, they can’t take her away from me too, Melissa thought to herself as she pulls out a gun from the pockets of her hoodie. 

“Stay back or I’ll shoot you!” She yells at the blonde woman who was still standing a bit too close for Melissa’s liking. “Stay back I said!”

“Ali!” Emily pulls her girlfriend back.

She moves her gaze from the couple to her younger sister, who was already staring at her with tears filled in her eyes. “Melissa..” she whispers. “Why?”

Melissa let’s out a cold laugh, “You know Spencer I really wish I could feel sorry for you right now.” she speaks with a harsh tone. “Normally, I would do whatever I could to prevent you from suffering. But there’s only so much I can take Spencer! There’s only so much pain I can endure for you!”

“Pain?” Spencer questions angrily. “What pain? What the hell are you talking about?!” 

“You bitches can never really let me be happy can you?” Melissa felt herself laughing bitterly. “You can’t ever let me have anything without wanting to take it away from me!”

“What have we done?” Aria asks as she holds onto Spencer’s hand, “We hardly even know you and you’re here accusing us for your misery?”

Melissa felt her blood boil in anger, “You know I was able to forgive you and your little friends for getting involved with my boyfriends.” she moves in closer on the liars, still having the gun directly pointed at them. “But what I won’t and cannot forgive is that because of you bitches I’ve lost the things that mattered the most to me!”

“What?!” Hanna asks bitterly. “What did we ever take from you?!”

“Well let’s start off with the fact that you led my husband to committing suicide, and because of that I lost my baby! My baby Spencer! You witnessed how excited I was to finally have someone who I could give all my love to! I risked my sanity and my liberty by burying a body of a girl that I thought you killed Spencer, and you couldn’t even thank me by allowing me to have a little bit of happiness! And worst of all, you took Charlotte away from me..” Melissa could feel the tears running down her face.

“What? You can’t honestly believe that we had anything to do with Ian deciding to kill himself?” Spencer was shaking. “And we aren’t even responsible for Charlotte’s death. We didn’t kill your friend!” 

Melissa bursts out laughing, “Friend?” she scoffs. “I was in love with her! I am still in love with her. She was my everything and you all took her from me!” She tightened her grip around the baby, to prevent her from slipping.

The liars were stunned to hear the older girl’s revelation. Spencer shakes her head, “How could you have been in love with my tormentor? How could you have been in love with the woman that literally drove me to insanity!”

“How could you have been best friends with that little devil, who kept messing with my boyfriend. How could you have been best friends with the girl who almost drove me to insanity just by looking at her?!” Melissa shot back, as she glanced at Alison.

“What about Archer then?” Alison asks. “He was also in love with Charlotte and even claims that they were together.”

“He was just some freak who was obsessed with her. And she took advantage of him, she used him to get out of Welby.” she replies. “He was nothing to her.”

“He didn’t seem to say the same thing.” Emily adds.

Melissa points the gun at her, “Didn’t you just hear what I said? I told you he was some obsessed freak. Of course his dumbass assumed she was in love with him.”

“How do you even know Charlotte?” Alison asks again. “As far as we knew, her only other ally was Sara Harvey. She never mentioned anything about you.”

Melissa rolls her eyes. “She loved me. She wasn’t going to expose me right then and there.” she answers. “And I’ve known Charlotte for years. We actually met when we were six years old at-”

“The old Campbell farm.” Spencer cut her off. 

•••

The first time she had officially met her, they couldn't have been more than six years old.

It was a sunny afternoon, the perfect whether for apple picking. Melissa recalls herself playing alone with her dolls, when she had suddenly felt like she was being watched.

She remembered looking up, only to lock eyes with a blue-eyed boy with blonde hair. The blonde kid had been looking at his dolls as well.

She felt herself form a smile, “Do you want to play with my dollies?” The young brunette had asked. “Look this one's my favorite, I named her Spencer, like my little sister.”

The little boy had looked down, “My dad says that I'm not supposed to play with dolls. He says that I'm supposed to play in the dirt and play with toy guns. Like my brother, Jason.”

“Well why not?” Melissa had asked. 

“Because I'm a boy. And boys can’t play with girl’s toys.”

“Well that's stupid.” She told him. “My daddy sometimes plays dolls with me when my mommy is busy, and he's a boy.”

“He thinks there's something wrong with me.” The young blonde kid played with the small leaves on the ground. “There's something wrong with boys who like to wear dresses he said.”

“Do you like to wear dresses?” Melissa continued to ask.

“No!” The little blonde boy got offended. “I'm not a girl, why would I like to wear dresses.”

“Well, I'm a girl and I don't really like to wear dresses.” She replied with a shrug. “And if it's okay for girls to like or not like dresses, then I think it's okay for boys to like and not like dresses either.”

They both stay silent for a moment.

“So, you still don't want to play with my dolls?” Melissa then asked again.

“I'm really not supposed to.”

“Is your dad here?” 

“No. I came with my mom and brother.”

Melissa smiled, “Then if you really don't want to play with my dolls, then why don't you just sit down here and watch me play?”

She could sense that her little blonde friend hesitated, but eventually the blue-eyed kid did end up walking towards her.

At first, it was only Melissa who had started to play with the dolls. Eventually though, they both started playing together, and were having a great time.

“That was fun!” Melissa said around an hour later, right before it was time for her to go. “I'm glad you decided to play with the dolls with me.”

“Yeah, me too. It's actually much better than playing in dirty mud like my brother.”

“I'm Melissa by the way. Melissa Hastings.” The little brunette introduced herself.

“My name is Charles. But truth be told, I prefer being called Charlie.” Charlie told her.

“Charlie.” She smiled at her friend’s name. “I like that too.”

In the distance she could hear her parents calling her name, it was time for her to go home. “Well, I have to get going.”

“Wait.” 

Melissa stopped and looked at her new friend. Charlie walked up closer to her and hugged her. “I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for not treating me as if there was something wrong with me.”

Melissa felt herself hug her new friend too, “That's because there is nothing wrong with you.” She told him.

Charlie had released her from the hug, and quickly pecked her on the lips. The tiny brunette’s eyes widened as Charlie had already started walking away. 

•••

“So you two were childhood lovers?” Ali asks as she looks over at the other girls. “But you acted like you hated her when we were in Cape May together. You were always giving her dirty looks.”

“That was before I knew that Cece was Charlotte.” Melissa removed the aim from Emily and pointed it towards Alison. “Don't try to act like you know things when you really don't.”

“Okay you were in love with Charlotte.” Aria tells her. “But that still doesn't change the fact that we had nothing to do with her murder, so why are you still torturing us!”

“Nothing to do with her murder?!” Melissa exclaims furiously as she points the gun towards Aria and walks a bit closer to her. “You seem to have forgotten that the little psycho killed Charlotte for you! She killed her because deep inside, she knew you all wanted her dead.”

“It doesn't matter what we wanted, we still didn't do it so why are you messing with us again?” Spencer asks desperately.

“No, it does matter!” she says. “Things always turn out good for you, whether if you do something good or bad, you all get your happy endings! Well what about me? Where’s my happy ending Spencer?! Don’t I deserve one too?”

“M-Melissa just end this now, and you’ll still have the chance to get have your happy ending.” Spencer tries to persuade her. “Please..”

“You still don’t get it, do you Spencer? Charlotte was my happy ending!” the brunette cries. “And now I have nothing, while you all get everything.” 

“You have me.” Spencer tells her. “You’ve always had me. What made her so much more important than me.”

“Have I really, Spencer?” Melissa questions her younger sister. “Because last I remember, you always chose them over me. You accused me of things that you heard from them, rather than just asking me about it. I always had to prove myself to you, to mom, to dad. But not with her, I didn’t have to be ‘The’ Melissa Hastings, daughter of two successful lawyers, I was just Melissa with her.”

•••

“What are you thinking about that has you so stressed out?” her soothing voice had broken her train of thought.

“What makes you assume that I’m thinking about something stressful?” Melissa had asked.

Charlotte sat up on her bed and turned to face her girlfriend. “You’re scowling.” she replied. “That can either mean that something’s pissed you off or that you’re overthinking things again. So tell me which is it.”

“I got accepted into Oxford.” Melissa had confessed as she turned around to face her. “But I don’t want to leave you.”

She watched as the blonde woman’s facial expressions softened. “Oh.” she said. “Well do you want to go?”

“It’s been my dream since I was five..”

Charlotte had let out a laugh, “Of course it has.” she said. She then stopped laughing and looked at the brunette with a serious gaze. “Well if you want to go, then who am I to stop you?”

Melissa scooted closed towards her girlfriend and gently stoked her face, “Did you not hear me? I said I didn’t want to leave you.”

“So you don’t want to go?”

“I do, but not if it means leaving you.” Melissa replied as she leaned in to place a kiss on the blonde’s lips. “I love you.”

Charlotte nodded, “And I love you..” she began and removed Melissa’s hand from her face, and held it in her hand. “Which is why you have to go.”

She furrowed her eyebrows, “What? Why?” she asked softly.

“You’re always doing things for other people, whether if it’s your parents, your sister, and sometimes even for me.” she answered sincerely. “I think it’s about time you do something for yourself.”

“But what about us? What about you? I don’t want to abandon you too.”

Charlotte closed her eyes and shook her head, “Don’t worry about me. Stop worrying about others, and start worrying about Melissa.” 

“Charlotte-”

“I’ve been alone my whole life,” Charlotte interrupted her. “It’s not really something that affects me anymore. Plus, now that I know that Alison is alive, it probably won’t be long before I end the game.”

“Then why don’t you come with me?” Melissa continued to find a way for them not to go their separate ways.

“I said probably, I didn’t say for certain.” Charlotte stated. “I still have to find a way to get her to come back to Rosewood.”

They both stayed silent. Not knowing what to say next. Melissa didn’t want to leave her girlfriend, but at the same time she didn’t want to miss such a great opportunity for her future. She didn’t know what to do.

“Go.” Charlotte then broke the silence. “Believe me, I’ll be okay. And you deserve to follow what makes you happy. And if going to Oxford is what makes you happy, then it’ll make me happy too.”

“Why are you so okay with this?”

“Because I love you.” Charlotte told her. “And I want you to do things for you. Not for anybody else.”

Melissa reached out to embrace her. She rested her head on her shoulder and just closed her eyes. She was going to miss this.

•••

“Have you always been a part of it?” Aria suddenly asked. “You and Wilden were the ones who put me in a box with Garrett’s dead body, and almost pushed me off.”

“We had just killed Garrett. He had just confessed something to Spencer about the N.A.T. and we thought it had to do with Wilden’s disturbing history. So he blackmailed me to help him kill Garrett and get rid of any evidence that would bring him down. Only that he thought it was you, who Garret had confessed everything to, not Spencer. And I wasn’t about to put my little sister’s life at risk, so I went along with it. But he really does seem to have a soft spot for underage girls, because he started to chicken out. He didn’t want to kill you anymore.”

“What were in those videos that Wilden was so afraid of, and what did he blackmail you with?” Spencer asks, as the hair of all of the girls started to blow a bit hard in the wind. Seems like a storm was coming.

“Like I just said. He had a soft spot for underage girls. Ian, Garrett, or Jason must’ve filmed him doing inappropriate things with one of those underage girls.” Melissa replies. “And, he knew or well thought that Charlotte had killed Alison. He was the one who escorted her back to Radley on that night, he told me that he was going to turn her in if I didn’t help him. I couldn’t put her behind bars again. I couldn’t let him take her away from me. Thankfully, he would be the next to die a couple weeks later.”

“Because he found out I was alive?” Alison questions.

“Partially. Charlotte had already been planning to kill him since he wasn’t planning on letting you come back, but then he started blackmailing me again. He kept saying that he was going to accuse me of Garrett’s murder if I didn’t keep doing his dirty work for him, like making Ashley Marin believe that she killed him.” 

“But my mom didn’t kill him. It was Charlotte.” Hanna tells her.  
Melissa shakes her head, “I killed him. But Charlotte took the blame for it. Well at first she tried to pin it on Ashley Marin, but then when Mona confessed, and she was scared that Mona would’ve exposed me to the police-”

“How could’ve Mona known that you did it though? I don’t even think you were on the suspect list.” Emily interrupts her.

“Are you really asking ‘how’ with Mona?” Melissa rolls her eyes. “She’s Mona. She’s way smarter than the five of you combined. It wouldn’t have taken her long to figure it out. Which is why Charlotte let herself become a suspect for his murder.” she could feel the tears beginning to form in her eyes. “Because she was protecting me.”

“So if you were doing Wilden’s dirty work, does that mean that you were there on the night of the lodge fire?” Spencer asks.

“I already told you, that was all Wilden by himself.” Melissa snaps. “I sent Shana and Jenna there to help Charlotte lock you in the lodge, and to keep an eye for Alison. But it seems like they turned on me for Wilden, because they ended up helping him.”

“Why did Wilden even set the lodge on fire?” Alison then asks. “What did he get out of burning my friends alive?”

“He had heard of Charlotte’s plan to lure you into Rosewood. He must’ve assumed you were in the lodge with the girls. He didn’t care if you were alive or dead, he just wanted you out of Rosewood. He thought you would’ve told everyone that he had sleeping with a fourteen year old girl, back in Cape May.” Melissa responds. “After he left the lodge, I asked to meet him. That’s when I shot him.”

“What about Wren?” Spencer changes the subject. “Why is he helping you?”

“Yeah, and what about that whole scenario back at that party that we were both at, where you claimed to hate Charlotte for ruining your relationship with Wren?” Hanna adds.

“Wren’s a soft guy. He had previously known about Charlotte, after all I was the one who asked him to allow her to visit Mona.” Melissa begins. “He really liked her, which is why he was so quick to listen to her whenever she told him what I had done to that girl.”

“So he forgave you and is working with you again?” Hanna interrupts.

“We talked things out. Charlotte and I did. He and I did. He understands me. He understood us. He didn’t judge my relationship with her, and even offered to help her again.”

“So why did you almost run me over as you tried to get the supposed ‘murder weapon’ that killed Charlotte? Your suitcase handle.” Emily asks her.

Melissa smirks, “I had to make myself a suspect.” she confesses as she turns to face her younger sister. “I knew that if I was at risk of being accused of murdering the person that ‘A.D.’ loved the most, that you would try to find the real murderer as soon as possible.”

“How were you sure that I would have?” Spencer questions her older sister as tears were once again, threatening to fall from her eyes.

“Because you loved me enough to protect me from getting sent to jail.” she answers. “The same way that I thought I was doing for you, when I thought you killed that girl.”

A few tears escaped from Spencer’s eyes as she nodded, “I do love you.” she tells her older sister. “Which is why I want you to give Lily back to her parents and let me help you.”

Melissa brings the gun back up, she hadn’t even noticed that she put it down. She begins to tremble. “No, you can’t take her away from me. Haven’t you taken enough!” she exclaims. “And her name is not Lily! Her name is Charlotte Hastings-Drake!”

“No, her name is Lily Dilaurentis-Fields!” Emily raises her voice at her. “And you can’t take our daughter away from us! She’s ours!”

Melissa shakes her head, “No, you can’t take her away from me.” she begins to raise her voice too. “It’s the only thing that I have left of her!” 

“What is she trying to say?” Aria asks as she looks over at Alison and Emily. 

“Are you saying-” Alison couldn’t even finish the sentence.

“She’s Charlotte’s baby. Her and Grace are.” Emily comes to realization. She feels herself go numb. “How could you do this to us? How could you violate us in that way!”

“Originally, I was planning on having the baby myself.” Melissa begins to explain. “But then I found that I was incapable of doing so, after losing my last baby. And at the time I had only stolen your eggs, Emily, to scare you. I really wasn’t planning on doing anything with them. But whenever you and your friends accused Alison of being the one responsible for Charlotte’s death, I was raging.”

The three liars feel the guilt growing within them, as they remembered that they were willing to sacrifice Alison for Hanna’s safety. But at the time, they didn’t know that A.D. was able to reach her in the hospital.

“Charlotte had always talked about you. How much you loved your friends, especially Emily. I wanted to hurt you really bad because I thought that you had killed Charlotte. I wanted you to feel just as vulnerable as I did when I found Charlotte’s dead body. So I hired someone to impregnate you with Charlotte and Emily’s baby, or should I say babies.” she tells her. “Didn’t you ever wonder why you had twins when Emily doesn’t have anyone in her family who is a twin?”

She looks at Baby Charlotte with so much adoration in her eyes. “Look at how much she looks like her.” She could feel her heart break as she the baby girl smiled at her. “She even smiles like her..”

It made her go back to the day that she last saw Charlotte alive.

•••

“Why are you smiling?” Melissa asked her, as she tried to act as if her smile didn’t totally make her heart skip a beat. “You’re locked up in a mental institution, what could possibly be worth smiling about in here?”

“You are.” she replied as her smile grew even wider.

Melissa couldn’t help but smile back. “Well, you sure do know how to make me feel special.” she said as she leaned in to kiss her.

But right before her lips were about to meet the blonde’s, there was a knock on the door. She felt herself groan as Charlotte giggled silently. She leaned back. “Come in.” Charlotte said.

“Oh, you have a guest love?” she heard a British voice ask from behind her. Oh no. It was him. Melissa couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Why was he even here?

She watched as Charlotte gave him an alluring smile, “Archer!” she exclaimed as she stood up from her bed. Melissa raised her eyebrows in suspicion at her girlfriend. “Yeah, this is the friend from UPenn that I was talking about.”

Melissa tried to not make her instant hatred towards the man too obvious. She knew that Charlotte was using him to help her get out of Welby, but she still couldn’t help but feel her blood boil, as he embraced her in a tight hug. 

She didn’t like the way he looked at her. Like she was his whole world. Because she was her whole world, not his.

She watched as he leaned down to kiss her. She felt herself force a smile, as she planned the many ways that she could kill him in her head. That was supposed to be her kiss, before he rudely interrupted them.

He then turned around to look at her. “Archer Dunhill.” he introduced himself. “So you’re that friend that my Charlotte trusts so much? Well it’s great to finally have the pleasure to meet you.” He extended his hand towards her for a handshake.

Now, the last thing Melissa wanted to do was to touch his old, crusty hands. But Charlotte gave her a look and refrained herself from rolling her eyes again. She shook his hand. “Likewise.” she replied.

“So Archer, what brings you here at this hour?” Charlotte then asked him, in such a sweet voice. Again, Melissa Hastings was stopping herself from rolling her eyes. “We usually don’t meet this early.”

“I have amazing news for you, love.” He told her. “The court has accepted the case, and if all the other 5 girls comply, then you should be able to go free in a few weeks.”

Melissa watched as Charlotte’s eyes lit up. “Oh my god, you really are amazing!” she praised him as he leaned in, to hug him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much Archer. I really do owe you.”

He caressed her face, “Being with you is enough of an award.” he said as he hugged her back tightly. Melissa let out the loudest, fake cough that she ever had, which forced them to let go. “Sorry.” she apologized.

“Anyways, I have another patient that ‘Dr. Rollins’ is supposed to be seeing right now.” Archer said as he leaned in to plant a kiss on Charlotte’s head. “I’ll see you soon love.” he then turned around to face Melissa, “It was nice meeting you too.” 

Melissa stands up from the bed and lets out a fake giggle, “Likewise.” she said again as she watched as Charlotte walked him to the door.

By the time Charlotte had turned her attention back to Melissa, the brunette was already glaring at her with her arms crossed.

“What?”

“Oh my god, you really are amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much Archer! I really do owe you!” Melissa mocked Charlotte in an overly-exaggerated version of her voice. “Being with you is enough of an award.” she then mocked Archer’s voice as she rolled her eyes.

Charlotte couldn’t help but laugh at her girlfriend’s childish behavior. “Really?” she asked her, she couldn’t hide her smile. “Is that how my voice sounds like to you?”

Melissa continued to glare at her. “That was supposed to be my kiss.” she said nonchalantly. 

“It can still be.” Charlotte suggested as she walked closer towards the brunette.

“Well I don’t want it now,” she complained. “It probably tastes like tobacco.”

Charlotte laughs, “What makes you think he smokes?”

“Oh please, I could smell the stench of cigarettes from a mile away.”

“How about we stop talking about that cigarette smoker and focus on what he said.” Charlotte said as she wrapped her arms around Melissa’s waist. “If all goes well, I might actually be able to be free again. Aren’t you happy?”

“Hm, that depends on whether or not he’s going to still be a part of our lives after you get released..”

“I’ll find a way to get him to leave me.” Charlotte assures her. “You’re the one I want to be with Melissa, you always have been.”

Melissa couldn’t help the smile that slowly crept on her face. “Okay then, yes I am very happy.” she replied as she too, wrapped her arms around her girlfriend. “I just wish he didn’t have to touch you so much. I also wish he didn’t look at you as if you are his everything.”

Charlotte cupped her face and gently ran her thumbs through her face, “It doesn’t matter how he looks at me.” she whispered. “Because in the end, I’ll only be looking back at you.” And with that, she gave Melissa the kiss that she had been waiting a good 15 minutes for.

•••

“Melissa please.” Spencer begged her sister. “Let me help you.”

Melissa didn’t say anything for a moment, she then looked up and locked eyes with Wren, who was standing behind the liars, with a gun pointed at them. “Let her go Spencer.” he says

The liars turned around and found Wren standing a few meters away, with a gun pointed at them, Spencer specifically. “I don’t want to shoot any of you, so it’s best if you let us go.” 

“No!” Alison protests. “You are not leaving with our daughter!” 

“You have another one of her at home.” Wren says coldly. “You won’t be able to tell the difference. Just let her come to me, and I won’t hurt any of you.”

“Wren..” Spencer whispers in a shaky voice. “Please don’t do this. Please let me help my sister.”

Wren shakes his head. “You don’t understand Spencer.” he replies. “I’m the one who’s helping your sister, not you. Get out of the way and let her come to me.”

Spencer shakes her head too, “I won’t let you take my sister away. This is only going to hurt her more!” she raises her voice.

“No Spencer,” he responds. “Not being with baby Charlotte is what will hurt her more. I’m giving you three seconds. If not I’ll shoot you all.”

Spencer turned around to look at her sister who was crying as she played with the baby. She really didn’t want to let her go.

“Three.” he begins to count down.

“Spencer..” Aria whispers.

“I’m not letting him take my sister, Aria.” she says.

“Two.”

“Maybe we should just call the cops.” Hanna suggests.

“No, we’re not letting them take our daughter!” Emily shuts her down.

“One.”

“Wren!” Melissa halts him. “Don’t kill my sister.”

“Don’t worry,” he tells her. “I won’t kill her, I’ll just give her another wound. It wouldn’t be the first time I shot you anyways.”

“That was you?” Spencer asks in disbelief. 

“It wasn’t my intention. I was trying to shoot Mary Drake, but you got in the way as you were running from the blind girl.” he answers as he places his finger on the trigger. “Last time it wasn’t intentional. This time it’ will be.”

Just milliseconds before he pulls the trigger though, somebody tackles him to the ground and he winds up shooting into the air.

“Toby!” Spencer calls out to him as he and Wren fight for the gun. 

Caleb and Ezra then run up onto the roof, and Caleb uses Toby’s old taser to zap Wren into unconsciousness.

“Where’s Grace?” Alison asked once she saw that all three of the boys were here while her daughter was nowhere to be seen.

“She’s with Pam.” Ezra tells her.

“You called my mom!?” Emily asks in disbelief. She didn’t want to get her mom all worried.

“We had to.” Caleb answers. “You girls were taking so long, we thought something bad had happened.”

Toby then grabs the gun that Wren had and points it at Melissa.

“Toby what are you doing?” Spencer questions him in a panicked tone. “Toby put the gun down.”

“Give Emily her baby back or I swear I’ll shoot you!” he threatens the brunette in the black hoodie. “Give her back!”

“Just shoot me.” Melissa cries. “Put me out of my misery already.”

“Melissa what are you saying!?” Spencer shouts at her. “Toby don’t listen to her!”

“Spencer, you still don’t understand!” Melissa screams at her sister as she literally broke down crying in front of all of them. “I can’t live anymore. I can’t live without Charlotte! I loved her more than I loved myself, she was my everything! How can I move on from that! Just kill me already.”

“Toby don’t!” Spencer pleads. “Melissa, yes you can! You can still live, and if you can’t do it for yourself, then do it for me. You told Wren not to kill me, so I must mean something to you. Am I not worth living for?”

Melissa continued to sob as she pressed the baby against her heart. “I tried to go on Spencer. I really did try. But I can’t anymore. I can’t give anymore! Toby just shoot me.”

Toby was already placing his hand on the trigger, as he recalled every horrible thing that A.D. did to Spencer. She harmed the woman he loved, and he wasn’t sure if he could forgive her for that.

“Toby I swear if you shoot my sister, I will never forgive you!” Spencer tells him.

“Are you forgetting everything she put you through Spence?” Toby asks her in disbelief. How could she be willing to forgive her sister who has done nothing but cause harm to her, but not him, who’s only trying to protect her?

“Of course I haven’t! But she’s my sister, I can’t let you kill her!” she turns around to face Melissa. “Melissa please, let me help you. This is not what Charlotte would’ve wanted for you.”

Spencer looks at her friends for help. 

“Spencer’s right.” Alison backs her up. Her cousin had been there for her when she asked them to give Charlotte a second chance, so now she’s returning the favor. “Like you said Melissa, Charlotte wouldn’t want to see you unhappy. She would want you to move past this, to help yourself get better.”

“She would want you to be you, Melissa.” Spencer adds.

Melissa feels as if she’s been stabbed in the heart when her sister says those last words. She knows that Charlotte wouldn’t want to see her in this much pain, but what could she do? She can’t help it.

“Let me help you, Melissa.” Spencer says one last time. “Do it for Charlotte.” 

That was it. She put the baby down and headed towards the edge of the roof. Emily quickly ran to get her baby as the other 4 liars chased Melissa.

“No!” They all screamed as the brunette stood only inches away from the end of the roof. 

“Melissa please don’t do this!” Spencer pleads her sister in tears as Aria holds onto her best friend. She prepares herself for the worst as she watches her sister prepare to jump.

“I know you and I have had our ups and downs, more downs than up actually. I know that I probably was such a stressful thing in your life, and I know I’ve betrayed you. But despite everything that we’ve been through, you’re still my sister. And I love you Melissa.” Spencer takes a few steps towards her sister. “I don’t want to live without you. Please take my hand.”

The older brunette felt her heart swell at her younger sister’s speech. She turns around to face her and just stares at her. She doesn’t know what to do. “Please Melissa,” Spencer pleads. “I’m begging you, please don’t leave me.”

Melissa looks at her little sister’s hand and cries even more. She eventually grabs it and Spencer pulls her into a hug while her older sister just sobs and sobs in her arms. “It hurts so much Spencer.” Melissa cries.

The liars all let out a sigh of relief as Spencer and Melissa cry in each other’s arms.

•••

Melissa sits in an empty room with a one-way window facing her. Her parents are probably watching her right now, or they’re probably in the doctor’s office talking about her condition.

She begins to wonder if whether allowing herself the opportunity to live was the right choice. She doesn’t know, all she knew was that she couldn’t stand to see her younger sister cry so much.

She loved her. Spencer really did love her. Maybe she could give life another shot, for her sister’s sake,

She begins to doze off, she can’t remember when was the last time she had slept properly. Who knows, right now she didn’t care. All she wanted was sleep.

Sleep.

“How could you even think about killing yourself over me?” A familiar voice scolds her. 

Melissa opens her eyes and see’s a familiar blonde woman standing in front of her. She was glowing. “Charlotte..” she whispered.

Charlotte smiles at her, “Did you miss me?” she walks towards her and kneels down in front of her. She gently strokes her face and Melissa closes her eyes as her touch. “Oh Melissa, I’m so sorry. I should have never made my way into your life. Look at how much pain I’ve caused you right now.”

Melissa quickly shakes her head, “What? No.” She tells her. “I’ve spent my most happiest moments with you. I’m so glad that you were a part of my life.”

“How do you expect me to feel glad, when you’re in this state.”

“I’m really sorry.” Melissa begins to cry. “I’m really sorry that I couldn’t do enough for you.”

Charlotte shakes her head, “You’ve done enough for me.” she tells her. “But now I want you to do something for yourself.”

“What is it?” 

“Please get better Melissa.” Charlotte whispers. “I can’t stand to see you like this.”

The brunette feels her eyes getting wet again, “How am I supposed to get better when you’re not with me?” she asks helplessly.

“But I am still with you.” Charlotte cups her face in her hands. “And I’ll always will be.”

“I love you Charlotte.” Melissa tells the blonde woman standing in front of her. She’s not sure if this is real or if this was a dream, but she wanted to hear the blonde woman say it one more time to her.

“And I love you Melissa.” Charlotte replies sweetly. “Which is why I want you to get better. Do it for me. Do it for Spencer.”

Melissa nods, “I’ll do it for you. I’ll get better for you and Spencer.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“I love you Melissa Hastings,” Charlotte tells her as she opens the door. “Thank you for making my shitty life worth living.”

•••


End file.
